Lost in the Alaskan Wilderness
by NightJasmine10
Summary: Things go wrong when Koenma and his loving girlfriend go to Alaska once again to visit her family and to watch her participate in an upcoming martial arts tournament in Palmer, Alaska. The lovers and Yusuke are ambushed by two assassins sent to kill the former spirit detective and Koenma's lover. Will the trio escape from the harsh wilderness and their pursuers? YYHBB Project


_**Lost in the Alaskan Wilderness**_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own YYH or any of its characters. They all belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. The only things I do own in this story is my OCs Jasmine, her family, and my villain OCs._

 **Notes:** _ **This one shot takes place at the start of the upcoming 26**_ _ **th**_ _ **chapter of my multi-chaptered fanfic "Musical Espionage". If you all haven't checked out the first 20 chapters or any of my other work out yet, they are all available to read on my fanfiction side Tumblr blog and on . Also, this piece is my project for this year's Yu Yu Hakusho Big Bang event and artwork was done up by arisaontheinternet so go check out their amazing artwork on their Tumblr.**_

 **One Shot Synopsis:** Things go wrong when Koenma and his loving girlfriend go to Alaska once again to visit her family and to watch her participate in an upcoming martial arts tournament in Palmer, Alaska. The lovers and Yusuke are ambushed by two assassins sent to kill the former spirit detective and Koenma's lover. Will the trio survive the unforgiving harshness of the Alaskan wilderness and escape from the two assassins? KoenmaXOC and some YusukeXKeiko

Jasmine woke up at 8 AM in the hotel room in Anchorage, Alaska that she shared with Koenma. With only the sheet and comforter covering her nude body, she yawned and stretched her arms and legs feeling refreshed from the goodnight's sleep she had after hers, her lover's, family's, friends', and Team Urameshi's flight from Mushiori City and from the passionate lovemaking session she and Koenma shared hours after their arrival.

Finished with her short stretch, Jasmine rolled over on her side and lovingly gazed at the still sleeping prince beside her. She sighed thinking of how adorable and angelic he looked in his sleep. Reaching over to touch his handsome face, Jasmine gently brushed Koenma's brown bangs away from his forehead so she could see his mark.

She then leaned over and lightly kissed his forehead. Feeling his lover's soft pink lips touch him, Koenma opened his beautiful brown eyes and glanced over his shoulder at her. They both gave each other sweet smiles and Jasmine was the one to break the ice saying in a low and welcoming voice, "Good morning sleepyhead. Sleep well?"

Still smiling, Koenma nodded, "Yes I did. What time is it?"

Looking over her shoulder at her nightstand, Jasmine looked over at the digital alarm clock. She shifted her attention back to the prince and replied, "A little after eight. I think we're the first ones up, figures."

Just then, she heard some talking in the room next door to theirs. Jasmine chuckled and shook her head, "Never mind, Urameshi, Kazuma and Keiko are up."

Koenma sat up and chuckled as well, hearing his former spirit detective argue with Kuwabara over what they were going to order from room service, "There they go again. First it was over what they wanted to watch on TV last night and now it's what they want for breakfast. Dammit Yusuke and Kuwabara, just pick something before Keiko picks for you guys."

Jasmine sat up with the blanket still covering her small perky breasts and burst out laughing, "Oh my god, they just keep on arguing. Come on Keiko, shut them up already."

Koenma laughed in agreement, "Just ignore them, they'll be at it for a while."

Blinking her large brown eyes, Jasmine asked, "How do you propose we do that?"

With a naughty gleam in his eye, the prince smirked and suggested, "How about I just show you my queen?"

Before Jasmine could say anything, Koenma gently cupped her face in his hands and deeply kissed her. Jasmine kissed him back with the same deep passion slipping her tongue into his mouth. It was just then she realized what they were going to do to ignore Yusuke and Kuwabara's arguing as Koenma slowly lowered her down onto the bed and began to trail soft kisses onto her naked body.

Meanwhile in the next room over with Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Keiko, the former spirit detective was growing so much more agitated with Kuwabara's stubbornness. Yusuke slumped down on the bed and loudly complained, "I just want some pancakes. I don't give a shit if I get syrup on the floor or on the bed. Housekeeping will clean it up."

Kuwabara shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "Whatever Urameshi. Since you can't decide, I'm going to go eat in the restaurant down the hall."

Keiko rolled her brown eyes annoyed with her friend and her boyfriend, "That's what I kept suggesting. Come on Yusuke, you'll get your pancakes that way. Besides, I don't want to eat while hearing your former boss...uh,"loving" Jasmine in the room next to us."

Yusuke was about to say something in protest but, hearing Koenma's and Jasmine's moans and cries in pure sexual ecstasy, he sighed in annoyance and decided not to argue with Keiko, "Fine. Let's go then. Good god, they're at it again. I swear, Koenma and his little ice queen are just doing that to piss me off or make me jealous."

Kuwabara chuckled, "Urameshi there's no shame in being a virgin. I am because, I want my first time with Yukina to be special and she probably does too. We're waiting until my first year at the university. Shizuru would kill me if she found out I lost it before then."

Yusuke just stood there speechless. He felt like Kuwabara gave too much information on that particular subject. Keiko then interjected putting in her two cents, "Yusuke, don't you want our first time to be special?"

He shifted his attention to his childhood friend and girlfriend and nodded, "Of course. We both agreed that there will be no sex until your first year in college but damn, Pacifier Breath and Ms. Eskimo are making it difficult for me."

Kuwabara sighed in utter annoyance for his best friend, "You know that Koenma was a virgin when we still worked for him right?"

"What?!" Yusuke's chocolate brown eyes widened in shock, "Seriously, you mean the toddler gave it up to Jasmine?"

Feeling like he was about to get sick himself from thinking about it, Kuwabara nodded, "Yeah I overheard Jasmine and Shizuru talk about it. I don't think you should call him that anymore since Jasmine made a man out of him."

With his mouth still gaping open, Yusuke was about to say something but, he let out a loud exhale that sounded almost like a whine. He then said sounding like he was grumbling, "Let's get out of here before I lose my appetite."

Yusuke wrapped his arm around Keiko's slender shoulders and they proceeded to follow Kuwabara out of the room. The aforementioned redheaded psychic then began to laugh, "Haha, sounds like they're having really a good time."

"Shut up Kuwabara!"

Kuwabara burst out laughing again and Yusuke responded by punching him on the shoulder with his free hand. Kuwabara groaned in pain and rubbed the sore spot. Without saying another word to each other, the three teenagers left their room and proceeded to walk in the direction of the hotel's second floor restaurant.

A little over an hour later, Koenma and Jasmine emerged from their hotel room fully clothed after taking a shower together. Gently taking her lover's hand into her own, Jasmine looked up at his handsome face and sweetly smiled, "Ready for a big breakfast my love?"

Feeling his stomach rumble, Koenma nodded, "Yes very much so. I love you Jasmine."

"I love you too." She stood on her tip toes and gently kissed the prince's lips. Once parting, the lovers gazed into each other's brown eyes and Jasmine sweetly smiled, "Are you looking forward to seeing the Middle and Explorer Glaciers just before we head to Palmer?"

Koenma brightly smiled and nodded his head up and down as in a yes and said with enthusiasm, "Yes I am. I know they'll be just as beautiful as the other glaciers I've seen in this wonderful place."

Resting her head on his broad shoulder, Jasmine then replied in a dreamy voice, "Wonderful. I can't wait for our romantic and scenic drive. It's been such a long time since we've been able to do anything as a couple. It's going to be great just spending time together, just the two of us even if it'll be for a couple of hours."

Letting go of her hand to wrap his arm around her slender shoulders and to gently run his long fingers through Jasmine's soft brown curls, Koenma kissed the top of her head, "Me too my queen. If we didn't have our own responsibilities and obligations to attend to, we would get more time together but, that's why they're all the more special. It's a good thing the rest of your team decided to go to the fair early and enjoy the rides and stuff."

"Yeah, my sister, Raito, Koashura, Kotennyo, Shizuru, and Sandy and her fiancé wouldn't stop talking about them non-stop at dinner last night. They, Jorge, Shunjun, and Grandma and Grandpa promised to meet us there." Jasmine then moved her head off Koenma's shoulder and looked up at him, "Would you like to check out what the fair has to offer after we finish our little romantic drive?"

Thinking about it for a moment, Koenma formed a cute dorky smile on his handsome face. He really wanted to go to the Alaska State Fair since the first time he and Jasmine came to visit Alaska together, "Yes, I would love it."

The prince then began to babble about the things he wants to see and do at the fair, "I want to go on the rides, play games, eat snacks, win some stuffed animals for you and your little cousins I'm going to meet, pet some animals at the petting zoo if there is one..."

Jasmine sweetly giggled thinking of how cute Koenma's excitement was. She loved to see him get enthusiastic about new things he's never experienced before and thought his positive attitude was infectious. The young demon hunter stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek, "You're adorable you know that?"

Returning the smile, Koenma replied, "So are you."

The lovers deeply kissed each other and not knowing they had arrived at the entrance to the hotel's restaurant, the ordinary human seating hostess chuckled at the sight in front of her. Hearing that, Koenma and Jasmine immediately parted with their cheeks flushed red. The woman than asked, "Let me guess, you two are on your honeymoon?"

Still blushing, Jasmine nervously laughed, "Uh, kind of."

Not wanting to embarrass them further, the woman then changed the subject and asked, "How many in your party?"

Koenma was about to say something but, Jasmine beat him to it, "Just two."

They then followed the seating hostess into the restaurant and she sat the lovers down at a table that was right next to Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Keiko's. She handed them their menus and left them alone. While looking over their menus on what they wanted to eat, Koenma and Jasmine were both interrupted from that by the sound of Yusuke's voice speaking to them.

"Hey Pacifier Breath."

Koenma sighed in annoyance at his former spirit detective, "Yes Yusuke?"

"Do you two mind keeping it down? I don't want to hear the things you say to each other and the sounds you both make while you fuck."

Jasmine and Koenma both groaned in utter embarrassment and irritation. Jasmine lowered her open menu and turned around retorting, "Do you mind not saying those things about me and Koenma in public? People are trying to eat."

Before Yusuke could say anything, Keiko kicked him from under the table. He groaned in pain and grumbled, "Dammit Keiko that hurt."

"Then shut up and eat. Save the trash talk for the tournament."

Not wanting to argue with her, Yusuke rolled his eyes and went back to eating his pancakes. Jasmine turned back around and she and Koenma laughed. The prince then said not holding back his laughter, "Serves you right Yusuke."

"Fuck you Toddler. Your girlfriend's team is going to get their asses kicked in the tournament."

Not bothering to turn around, Jasmine just kept reading her menu but, she did say something back, "Don't get too cocky Urameshi. Genkai's and my mom's training has greatly benefitted me and my team. We just might wipe the floor with you guys."

"Whatever, I'll kick your...OW! Okay Keiko, I'll go back to eating my pancakes. Can you stop kicking me?"

Kuwabara just sat there and started laughing. He laughed so hard that milk came out of his nose and as a result he wound up coughing. Jasmine turned around and asked with genuine concern, "Are you okay Kazuma?"

Kuwabara nodded his head up and down as in a yes and gave her a thumbs up. A couple of hours later, everyone was getting ready to leave the hotel with Jasmine's family and Genkai leaving first, Koashura, Jorge, Kotennyo, and Shunjun leaving not long after them and the six Dark Tournament fighters leaving around the same time. Yusuke just emerged from the bathroom and slung his duffle bag over his shoulder.

He stood at the entrance to the hotel and looked for the car he was going to ride in with Shizuru, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Keiko. Looking around for a about a minute, he began to think to himself, "Where the hell are you guys? Dammit Kuwabara, you were supposed to tell your sister to wait for all of us. Where in the fuck are you guys?"

After continuing his search for another five minutes, it then dawned on Yusuke that they had must have forgotten him. He then let out a loud groan that sounded like a whine. Yusuke then loudly complained and everyone who was currently in the parking lot heard him, "Goddammit Kuwabara! I can't believe you guys ditched me!"

Just then across the parking lot, Koenma and Jasmine were loading their belongings in the rental car they were using. The prince heard his ex-spirit detective's complaints and climbed into the car's passenger seat while Jasmine took her place behind the wheel. As she started up the car, she looked over her shoulder, "Oh don't tell me, Urameshi missed his ride?"

Koenma nodded, "Yeah but, I don't really want him to ride with us. We are supposed to have our romantic drive together. I don't want him to ruin that."

Backing out of their parking spot, Jasmine sighed. Koenma was right but, suddenly a thought came to mind. She then broke the silence between her and her lover, "You know what, I just thought of something."

The prince glanced over at her and just stared, "About what?"

Tightly gripping the steering wheel as she slowly turned the car around, the young demon hunter responded, "Maybe Urameshi can ride with us."

"What, Jasmine are you crazy?"

Stopping the car, Jasmine looked over her shoulder at Koenma and responded, "Think about it. If we leave him here, there is no way that he'll be able to get to Palmer because he doesn't know the way. If Yusuke stays here, I will never get my rematch with him in the tournament. Come on Koenma, don't you want me and him to have a fair fight? I didn't work hard with my training with my mom and Genkai during my breaks from med school for nothing."

Koenma just sat there. He and Jasmine intensely looked at each other for a bit. He then began to think about what she said. Even though he was really looking forward to their romantic drive to the Middle and Explorer Glaciers, he did want to see Jasmine and Yusuke fight in the upcoming tournament. He sucked on his pacifier for a minute and looked at his hands that were placed on his lap and looked over at Jasmine again.

Koenma sighed in reluctance, "Fine."

Jasmine smiled and leaned over. She kissed him on the cheek in gratitude, "Thank you. I love you Koenma."

"I love you too."

Seeing the disappointment etched on his handsome face, Jasmine began to feel bad but, then she suggested, "Tell you what, how about I make it up to you?"

The prince blinked his beautiful brown eyes, "How?"

Sweetly smiling, Jasmine flashed her slightly crooked teeth and suggested, "Well, how about when we get to the glaciers, we can have a nice romantic picnic lunch. Sure Urameshi will be there but, doesn't that sound nice?"

Loving the idea and not wanting to ruin their day, Koenma nodded, "Sure, a picnic sounds great."

Happy that they came to a compromise, Jasmine leaned over and kissed Koenma on the cheek again before she resumed pushing on the gas pedal. She drove around the parking lot and pulled up to the hotel's entrance and began to honk the steering wheel's horn.

Hearing that loud noise in his ear, Yusuke glanced over his shoulder. Jasmine rolled down her window and shouted at him, "Get your shit Urameshi, you're riding with us!"

Deciding to weigh his options, Yusuke looked around the parking lot. Kuwabara and the rest of his team didn't look like they were going to be coming back. He didn't want to miss the tournament especially since he and Jasmine agreed to a fair fight for their rematch. The former spirit detective shrugged his shoulders and climbed into the backseat of the car Koenma and Jasmine were riding in.

Noting the displeased look on his former boss's face, Yusuke then asked, "You don't look too happy Pacifier Breath, are you and the ice queen fighting again?"

Jasmine just simply rolled her large brown eyes at the remark but, Koenma on the other hand, retorted, "No, everything is fine with her and I but, you, well that's something different entirely."

Yusuke narrowed his eyes at him, "Wow, just wow. If you didn't want me here Toddler, all you had to do was say something. I guess I'll just walk to Palmer then."

Just as he was about to climb out of the rental car, Jasmine then stopped him, "Sit back down."

The Mazoku then snapped his attention to the young Alaskan demon hunter, "Why?"

Not wanting to deal with his and Koenma's attitude and animosity towards each other, Jasmine tightly gripped the steering wheel, took a deep breath and turned around. Seeing the look etched on her pale freckled face, Yusuke was about to say something but, Jasmine then interrupted, "Look Urameshi, to be honest, I don't want you riding with us either but, it looks like your ride isn't going to be coming back. If you stay here and try to walk to Palmer, chances are, you'll more than likely get lost because you don't know the way. This is your first time ever being here in Alaska. I know how to get to Palmer because I have been there several times in my life."

She paused for a little bit to unbuckle her seatbelt to look him directly in the eye and then continued, "I don't want us to miss our match in the tournament. You and I agreed to have a fair fight and I don't want my training that I had with my mom and Genkai to go to waste. I sacrificed my Christmas Break, my Spring Break, and the start of Summer Break to improve on my fighting, pain relief, and healing abilities. I'm sure you did the same thing. I have gotten stronger as a fighter and I want you to see that. Ura...Yusuke, please stay okay, if not for me and Koenma but, for our upcoming match?"

Sitting there speechless, Yusuke just looked at her with his mouth gaping open. Looking at Jasmine's pleading look, he didn't want to miss their rematch either. Deciding to swallow his pride, Yusuke threw up his hands in defeat before responding, "Okay, I'll ride with you guys. It would suck if we didn't get to fight in the tournament."

Jasmine smiled in gratitude, "Thank you." She then turned around and buckled her seatbelt back up. Just as she was about to pull away from the hotel's entrance, two people suddenly jumped out in front of her.

Reacting on time, Jasmine slammed on the breaks causing her, Koenma and Yusuke to lurch forward. Before Yusuke could get the chance to ask, Koenma beat him to it and asked his lover in genuine concern, "What's wrong my queen?"

Just then, Koenma could see the color on Jasmine's face drain away as she continued to stare at the two people in front of her. Tightly gripping the steering wheel, Jasmine continued to stare at the two people she nearly hit which was one man that was good looking with wavy black hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes and one attractive woman with long flowing straight black hair, icy blue eyes, a beautiful pale complexion, red full lips, and a nice figure.

She instantly recognized them both. The man looked exactly like her now deceased ex-boyfriend Makoto Chiba and the woman she came across at Mushiori University that pushed her down the stairs at the medical school building several months ago. Jasmine began to breathe deep and shallow as her ex's doppelganger glanced over at her with a dead blank expression.

Koenma gently touched her slender shoulder, "Jasmine..." He then paused momentarily looking at the two individuals. The attractive woman then looked over at Koenma's direction and the prince felt an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach instantly recognizing her as her red lips formed a cruel smile.

Only one word escaped from his lips that were hidden beneath his blue pacifier, "Aphrodite."

Not knowing what the hell was going on, Yusuke leaned up and asked, "Hey, why are you two freaking out?"

The woman called Aphrodite and Makoto's doppelganger walked to the other side of the hotel's entrance and Jasmine instantly slammed her foot on the gas pedal wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of there thinking about hers, Koenma's and even Yusuke's safety. Pulling into the busy traffic of the Old Seward Highway, Jasmine then spoke breaking the awkward silence, "Holy fucking shit! It doesn't make any sense!"

Koenma held on for dear life as did Yusuke and the prince added, "I know. Makoto should be dead. That guy clearly wasn't a ghost."

"I know, I was there when you processed his paperwork and we both went to his funeral. Makoto's body was cremated. There is no reason why I seen him multiple times afterwards including now."

The prince looked over at her and nodded, "I know. There isn't a way he can ever be brought back even before his cremation, his body was in such horrible shape."

Still not knowing what was going on, Yusuke then interjected, "Wait, so you guys are freaking out because that dude looked like Jasmine's dead friend. How do you know he didn't have a twin?"

Finally on the main highway, Jasmine then answered his question, "Makoto wasn't a twin. I only went out with him for six months but, I do know the only siblings he had was four sisters, all younger than him."

Koenma then added, "Yusuke before you ask, Makoto's death was brutal. It was so bad that when the human police found his body in his apartment, he was nearly beheaded. His head was only held on by just a flap of soft tissue. His blood was all over his apartment. I should know, I received his file that had the grisly photos. He died from multiple stab wounds from an ice pick. His killer tried to behead him postmortem. The only clues left at the scene were bloody footprints and handprints that belonged to a woman and a male accomplice and the murder weapons used in the crime."

Pulling up to a gas station, Jasmine then interjected, "I still believe that whoever killed Mako was trying to frame me. The botched beheading was done in a very sloppy matter. His killer used normal kitchen knives to do it. Usually when I behead and even cut off body parts of my opponents, I usually do a clean job with my energy coated fans. Plus, I had an alibi for that night."

"Yeah, she was with me spending the night at Genkai's. How can Jasmine kill someone while having sex with me at the same time?"

Yusuke just stared at them awkwardly and answered, "You can't. That's just impossible."

Pulling up to an unoccupied gas pump, Jasmine turned off the engine and slipped the key out of the ignition, "Thank god the police didn't try to conduct an investigation on me. I broke up with Makoto four years ago and didn't have any contact with him since so there was no reason why I should be a suspect. Besides, he got what he deserved."

Still feeling awkward, Yusuke asked, "Why?"

Jasmine sighed and unbuckled her seatbelt. She turned around and said to the former spirit detective, "He was a serial rapist and a suspected serial killer. I found that out while Koenma was processing Makoto's paperwork. Before then, I just thought he was a lying, cheating, perverted and womanizing asshole that just couldn't keep his dick in his pants. It's a shame that I didn't kill him while I had the chance." She then shifted her attention back to Koenma and kissed him on the cheek, "Oh well, seeing my wonderful prince sentence him to an agonizing eternity to the worst place Spirit World has to offer was enough for me."

Nuzzling his nose against Jasmine's, the prince replied as he removed his pacifier and kissed her on the forehead, "It was my pleasure to. He wasn't worth killing."

Lovingly gazing into his beautiful brown eyes, Jasmine nodded in agreement, "You're right my love." She and Koenma shared a sweet kiss and parted shortly after.

Deciding to the change the subject from their current depressing topic, Koenma unbuckled his seatbelt, popped his pacifier back into his mouth, and turned around, "While Jasmine is filling up the gas tank, I suggest we get some drinks and snacks for the road. Before Jasmine and I head to Palmer, we're going to go check out a couple of glaciers."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow, "What? I thought we were going directly to the fair? So we're going the wrong way?"

Koenma sighed not wanting to deal with his former spirit detective's crap, "We planned this for months so; you're just going to have to deal with it. I'm so glad you're no longer my spirit detective..."

"Or else you'd fire me right?"

"You got it."

Not saying another word to each other, Koenma and Yusuke both climbed out of the rental car and walked into the convenience store. Koenma ignored the stares and odd looks he got from the ordinary human shoppers from seeing a grown man with a pacifier in his mouth.

After grabbing some snacks and drinks for himself and Jasmine, he approached the cashier who then asked him while Koenma paid for his snacks and drinks "Aren't you too old to be sucking on that?"

Koenma didn't say anything to the ordinary human but, just rolled his eyes in response. Not even bothering to take his change, the prince walked out and let out a loud sigh, "Damn humans are so nosey."

Hearing her lover's complaint, Jasmine approached him and asked with genuine concern, "What's wrong my prince?"

Koenma loudly exhaled, "Just stupid humans who won't mind their own damn business."

Just before Jasmine could say something, Yusuke walked out of the convenience store and remarked, "Maybe that's because you shouldn't have put that back in your mouth before you went in there."

Hearing his former spirit detective, Koenma then shot him a death glare and snapped, "Shut up Yusuke. You know damn well I need to keep this in to store my energy for the Mafukan."

Yusuke then chuckled, "Yeah so? So tell me, Koenma do you keep your pacifier in your mouth while you and Jasmine have sex?"

"NO! SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!"

Jasmine groaned in annoyance, "Will you both stop it? I'm going to go inside and pay for the gas. Can you two get along for just two minutes?"

Both men silently nodded. Minutes later, they were back on the road going down the Seward Highway. Yusuke was beginning to get annoyed with Koenma and Jasmine both because they kept singing along to the music on the radio together. He thought they had good voices despite still feeling as if Koenma's singing was eerie; he really hated some of the songs they were singing along to.

Yusuke then began to wonder if they were just singing along to the radio to take their minds off the two creepy individuals that Jasmine nearly ran over in the hotel's parking lot. When Koenma stopped singing when the current song from Pearl Jam ended, Jasmine then began to sing along to Mariah Carey's "Fantasy".

Deciding he had enough, Yusuke then loudly complained, "Hey, can you two knock it off? I'm getting tired of your singing."

Jasmine kept on singing while Koenma turned around and asked, "Why? What's wrong with our singing?"

"Nothing, you guys have nice voices especially you Koenma. I still don't understand you can have such a good voice that really creeps people out but, that's not the point. The point is, I fucking hate these songs except for the Pearl Jam song you sang along to."

In response and deciding to annoy him some more out of pure spite, Koenma rolled his brown eyes at Yusuke calling his singing creepy and then gave him a smirk, "You know what? Just for that, Jasmine and I are just going to continue."

Now that the current song on the radio ended and switched to a commercial, Jasmine then spoke and decided to be spiteful herself being annoyed with Yusuke as well, "Yeah, let's do it. Too bad Urameshi, you're just going to have to deal with it."

When the commercials ended, Koenma and Jasmine began to sing along to Janet Jackson's "Escapade". Poor Yusuke could only just sit in the back of the rental car groaning in total annoyance for his former boss and the young Alaskan demon hunter. About an hour later, Koenma then looked out his window to see two glaciers nestled in the Chugach Mountains.

The prince couldn't help but stare at them in awe. Just like the other ones he had seen, they both looked so beautiful to him. Noting her lover's reaction, Jasmine sweetly giggled thinking of how adorable he was acting. Still looking for a safe place to pull over and view the glacier, she reassured him, "Just hold on Koenma. We'll pull over soon."

Yusuke looked out his window too. Staring at the glaciers too, he really didn't see what was so special about them. He couldn't understand why Koenma was so obsessed with the two slowly moving sheets of ice. Yusuke was then snapped out of his thoughts when Jasmine finally found a safe place to pull over and she pulled off the side of the road.

All three passengers climbed out of the rental car and Koenma ran in the direction of the hanging glaciers wanting very much to get as close as possible to them. He stopped running finally paying attention to the thick forest and brush that surrounded the mountain range.

Yusuke approached him and remarked giving Koenma a weird look, "Are you going to stop acting weird?"

The prince just gave his ex-employee a look of annoyance, "Are you going to stop acting like a party pooper?"

Jasmine approached the two men and gently took Koenma's hand. She brought it up to her lips and kissed it hoping to relax him, "Please stop arguing. Both of you stop. Urameshi, please let Koenma and I enjoy this. We'll be back on the road soon. I'm in no mood to put up with your nonsense."

Not wanting to upset her, Koenma smiled, "Alright, Yusuke and I will behave ourselves. I won't ruin this."

Reaching into the pocket of his denim jacket, the prince brought out his camera, "Jasmine let me take a picture of you and the glacier."

Standing in a good place where Koenma can get a good shot of her with the glacier in the background, Jasmine smiled pretty showing her slightly crooked teeth. The prince smiled and took the picture. Lowering his camera, he handed it to Jasmine who then suggested, "Okay my turn. Koenma and you too Yusuke, let me get you guys."

Immediately Yusuke began to protest, "No way. Not uh, count me out."

"Oh come on Yusuke. Just let Jasmine do it."

"No. I don't want to participate in this dorky nature thing. It's just a stupid glacier."

Feeling as if his patience was wearing thin for his ex-spirit detective, Koenma sighed. Then out of pure spite, he wrapped his long arm around Yusuke's shoulders and the half demon tried to wiggle out of it, "Dammit Toddler let me go. I don't want to be in your stupid glacier picture."

"I'm not letting go until Jasmine is finished."

The young demon hunter chuckled as she brought the camera up to her face, "Just keep him there Koenma. Okay boys smile."

Figuring it was no use, Yusuke stopped struggling and he and Koenma looked at Jasmine. The prince smiled like a complete dork and gave Yusuke bunny ears with his index and middle fingers as she snapped the picture laughing thinking it was funny. Yusuke then broke out of Koenma's one armed embrace and gave his former boss an angry stare.

Koenma started laughing, "Oh don't be so sore Yusuke. Be happy that Jasmine and I are including you in this."

Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his brown jacket, Yusuke's glare intensified, "I didn't want to do this. This stuff is boring. I don't know how you two can enjoy this."

Koenma narrowed his beautiful brown eyes at him. Sucking on his pacifier for a minute, he was about fed up with Yusuke's negativity, "Look, I didn't want you to come along either. I was looking forward to having a small romantic outing with the woman I love. I don't get to spend as much time as I want with her and all we wanted was to treasure every minute we have together. Is that too much to ask?"

Deciding to intervene, Jasmine stepped in between them, "Guys stop it. Please let's just enjoy this. I'm getting sick of hearing you two bickering. That's all you two have been doing since we left Anchorage. Please be civil to one another. I mean, weren't you two friends at one point?"

Yusuke shifted his attention to Jasmine and simply replied, "Not really. I never really considered Koenma to be a friend. No offense Pacifier Breath."

Koenma sighed again, "None taken, kind of. I thought we were friends just before you left for Demon World but, I guess I was wrong."

Seeing the sad look on his former boss's face, Yusuke began to feel guilty. The former spirit detective loudly exhaled and said feeling remorseful, "Koenma...um...hey...I'm...sorry."

The prince just gave Yusuke a blank expression, "Apology accepted."

"See? That wasn't so bad." Just then, Jasmine noticed Koenma's demeanor change. She could see the look of fear and nervousness etched on his handsome face. Feeling concern for her lover, she asked, "Koenma what's wrong?"

Beginning to feel concern for him as well, Yusuke too then asked, "Hey are you okay?"

Koenma shook his head, "No, no I'm not. Those two people you nearly ran over at the hotel, well I'm beginning to think that they're following us."

Beginning to feel awkward too, Jasmine felt an icy chill run down her spine, "What? Are you serious?"

She and Yusuke then looked over in the direction of where Koenma was looking. Sure enough, there were the two people that she nearly hit with the rental car in the hotel's parking lot. Jasmine then spoke in a low voice to both men, "Get in the car now. The rest of this little trip is cancelled. Koenma, my prince, I'm so sorry."

Gently taking Jasmine's hand into his own, Koenma then reassured her, "It's alright, my queen you have every right to be worried..."

He trailed off as he turned around and began to drag Jasmine back to the rental car with Yusuke following at their heels. Koenma let go of Jasmine's hand and all three passengers jumped into the vehicle. Shoving the key into the ignition, Jasmine started up the car and firmly pressed on the gas pedal wanting nothing more to get out of there and head to Palmer as safely as possible.

While driving down the Seward Highway, Yusuke then asked Koenma, "Uh Koenma, what did you mean by how Jasmine has every right to be worried?"

Feeling his anxiety shoot through the roof, Koenma bit down on his pacifier and sighed. Looking at his hands that were placed on his lap, he then answered, "I know one of those people, the woman actually."

Keeping her large brown eyes on the road, Jasmine tightly gripped the steering wheel and asked, "How? Did you used to date her or something?"

Koenma shook his head and said truthfully, "No, I never dated her. Her name is Aphrodite; she's an old classmate of mine from Spirit World Kindergarten. She and her gang of friends bullied me relentlessly until Kotennyo's graduation party. The last time I bumped into her was over 200 years ago at the Fallen Angel. Let's just say my last encounter with Aphrodite wasn't so...pleasant."

Hearing the tone of Koenma's voice, both Yusuke and Jasmine began to feel like there was something he wasn't telling them. They both wondered what the incident was and taking a chance she hoped he would be truthful with her, Jasmine glanced over her shoulder for a minute and asked her lover, "What happened? What did she do to you?"

Koenma sighed, "I...I don't want to talk about it."

Yusuke leaned up and put his hand on the prince's shoulder, "Ko..."

Immediately, Koenma swatted at Yusuke's hand and snapped, "Don't you touch me!"

Taken aback from his unusual behavior, Yusuke blinked his chocolate brown eyes. He wasn't so sure how to react to that. He had never seen Koenma act that way before. Snapping out of his thoughts, Yusuke then heard him say to Jasmine, "Keep your eye on the road."

Swerving her way out of the oncoming traffic, Jasmine awkwardly chuckled, "Sorry about that. Koenma, what happened? Um, wow, why did you just swat at Urameshi? He was just concerned about you."

"Just drop it. I already told you both; I don't want to talk it."

Even though she still wanted to know, Jasmine stared at the road ahead of her and loudly exhaled. She knew if she kept trying to press the issue, Koenma would keep pushing her away. Deciding to be a good girlfriend, she dropped the subject for right now. Koenma would eventually come to her when he felt ready to talk about the problem with her.

There was still the issue of Yusuke. The aforementioned half demon ex-spirit detective was still trying to figure out what to say to Koenma but, like Jasmine, he kept his mouth shut. For the next twenty minutes or so, the three passengers just sat in a dead silence. Jasmine and Yusuke could still see that Koenma was feeling uneasy.

This tense moment was soon interrupted when someone behind them hit the back bumper causing Koenma, Jasmine and Yusuke to lurch forward. Jasmine took a quick glance into her rear view mirror and groaned, "Oh shit."

Yusuke turned around and groaned too, "Fuck, it's them. Koenma you weren't kidding, they are following us."

Koenma began to panic, "Oh my god, I knew it. They were sent to kill me or Yusuke or both of us."

Tightly gripping the steering wheel, Jasmine tried to stay calm and said, "Hang on tight boys. This is going to be a bumpy ride. We're going to lose these assholes."

She slammed her foot on the gas pedal making the car go faster. Yusuke and Koenma hung on for dear life. Jasmine was now driving ten miles over the speed limit. Yusuke looked behind them again, "Their gaining on us. Drive faster!"

Jasmine increased the car's speed again and the car that contained the woman named Aphrodite and her ex's doppelganger hit their back bumper again. Jasmine gritted her teeth, "Don't they give up? Keep holding on guys."

Immediately seeing the next exit on the freeway, she knew they were now on the Glenn Highway just on the outskirts of Eagle River and switched lanes. Driving onto the off ramp of the freeway, Jasmine hoped that she was losing their pursuers but, her hopes were soon taken away when Yusuke looked behind and said beginning to panic like Koenma was, "Dammit they're still on our tail. Do something Eskimo!"

"I'm trying Urameshi! Get off my case!"

Koenma began to hyperventilate and said as his anxiety skyrocketed, "We're gonna die. Oh god, we're gonna die."

Still trying to keep her cool, Jasmine then said in an effort to comfort her prince, "Koenma relax, we're going to be okay. We are going to figure this out. Please don't think so negative."

In the car behind them, Makoto's doppelganger then said to Aphrodite who sat in the passenger's seat, "They're really trying their hardest to get away from us."

Aphrodite then let out a high pitched sadistic laugh, "Little good that's doing them. I wonder if Koenma is having a panic attack over this. His little whore is trying her damned hardest to get away from us."

The doppelganger driver cruelly chuckled as well, "She's making this chase fun. Yeah Urameshi, keep giving us that look, just you wait, our fight is coming."

"Be patient, it'll happen. In the mean time, let's have a little bit fun with them first."

Aphrodite rolled down her window and stuck her upper body out of it. She brought up her right hand and summoned her heart shaped throwing stars with her spirit energy. Taking aim at the tires of the rental car Jasmine, Koenma and Yusuke were riding in; she locked onto her target and threw a total of three of her heart shaped throwing stars at the right back tire.

Hearing a loud pop, Jasmine's dark brown eyes widened, "You've got to be kidding me. Not now. I can't get a flat now."

Deciding to investigate, Yusuke looked through the back window and his suspicions were confirmed, "Uh Jasmine, you didn't get the flat by running over something. That chick is throwing what looks like throwing stars and she's blowing out our tires."

At Yusuke's words, the second back tire blew out and Koenma nervously sucked on his pacifier. Before he could say anything, Jasmine began to lose control of the vehicle. Trying her hardest to stay on the road, she tightly gripped the steering wheel trying desperately to regain her control over it but, her efforts were proven to be in vain when both front tires blew out from Aphrodite's attacks.

Jasmine then slammed on the breaks and instead of stopping, the rental car then veered off the road and began to roll down the hill. She, Koenma, and Yusuke held on for dear life letting out loud screams as they continued to roll down the steep hill. Makoto's double then stopped the car he and Aphrodite were in and looked at the side of the road.

He then asked his partner, "Do you think they're dead? I really fucking hope not, you promised me a good fight with Yusuke Urameshi."

Aphrodite then howled in laughter. Once regaining her composure, she then replied to his question, "They're not dead. I can still sense their energies and that includes the royal brat. Now, the challenging thing about this is finding them."

The driver sighed in annoyance, "We have to slog through this godforsaken wilderness? Ugh dammit Aphrodite."

Hearing his complaints, she slapped him upside the head and ordered, "Enough bitching. Let's start finding them. The sooner we do, the sooner you get your fight."

At the bottom of the hillish valley that the rental car that contained Jasmine, Koenma and Yusuke rolled down from, Jasmine sat up breathing heavily and thanking her lucky stars that the seatbelt that had her strapped in kept her from being thrown from the vehicle. Finally able to catch her breath after a minute, she then asked the other two car occupants, "Are you guys okay?"

Just then the sound of Koenma's groans alerted her, "Yeah, I'm okay."

Jasmine looked over at her lover and smiled relieved that he was alright, "Oh thank god. Do you have that hunting knife I gave you for Christmas?"

Koenma checked his belt, "Yes I do. I knew there was a reason why I should carry it on me today. Can you open your door?"

The young demon hunter unbuckled her seatbelt and shifted her attention to the driver's side door, "I don't know. Let me see."

She grasped the door handle and used her weight to open the door. Climbing out, Jasmine took a good look at the damage done to the car. She loudly exhaled and sighed, "Great, I'm going to have to call the rental car place and tell them the car is completely totaled. Shit, those assholes are going to pay."

Koenma unbuckled his seatbelt and tried to get out the passenger side door but, it was sadly too damaged to open. Seeing that, Jasmine then suggested, "Koenma, my prince, crawl over to the driver's side."

Taking her word for it, he did. Just as he was about to climb out of the totaled car, Jasmine offered her hand to him, "Here, let me help you my love."

The prince gladly took her hand and Jasmine helped him out of the car. Now being able to stand on his two long legs, Koenma took a look at the car. He brought his hand up to the back of his head and said, "Oh shit. They really destroyed our only mode of transportation. I knew it. They were trying to kill us."

Jasmine nodded in agreement, "Yeah and I feel like this is only the beginning."

Suddenly Koenma then thought of Yusuke. Not hearing a single word from his former spirit detective since their crash landing, the prince then began to fear for the worst, "Oh my god, Yusuke!"

"What oh no don't tell me...?"

Jasmine's sentence was cut short when one of the windows was suddenly kicked open. Koenma and Jasmine both watched as Yusuke Urameshi crawled out the broken window carrying three duffle bags and Jasmine's purse. The ex-spirit detective then stood up holding the four bags, his slicked back black hair was sticking up in places like how Jasmine's long brown curls looked frizzed out and there was a cut on Yusuke's face.

Both feeling relieved that he was okay; Koenma and Jasmine both ran up to him. Feeling the newly opened wound on his cheek sting from the air hitting it, Yusuke then groaned at the pain, "Fuck, if I didn't know better, I'd say they were trying to kill us."

Koenma nodded in agreement, "I think they are Yusuke. You really gave Jasmine and I quite a scare."

The former spirit detective then chuckled, "Those assholes won't take me down that easily. They're gonna have to do better than that to kill me. Oh here's your stuff."

Yusuke handed Koenma and Jasmine their belongings. Slinging her purse over her shoulder, Jasmine checked underneath her pink denim jacket and sighed with relief that she still had her set of black and red martial arts fans that were passed down to her from her great-grandmother Meredith.

"Thank god I still have my weapons. If I lost them, I would have no way to defend myself other than using my fists and feet."

Staring at the totaled rental car, Jasmine sighed again. She tightly gripped onto her purse and her duffle bag, "There goes our mode of transportation. The only thing we can do at this point is walk."

Taking a glance over at Yusuke, she approached him and offered, "Let me heal that up for you. I can heal cuts and burns but, nothing too big yet. My healing technique has improved from my training with Genkai and my mom but, I still have a long way to go with it."

Yusuke shrugged his shoulders, "Sure why not? Go ahead Ice Queen."

Jasmine put down her duffle bag and raised her small dainty hands to Yusuke's face. She concentrated really hard as her hands began to glow with her spirit energy. Yusuke then gasped feeling a small burning sensation as the skin from his newly opened cut began to heal. After what seemed like two minutes, Yusuke's face was restored to its original state.

Jasmine picked up her duffle bag and Yusuke gave her a small smile, "Thanks."

Returning the smile, Jasmine responded, "No problem."

Looking around the thick forest area, Yusuke, Koenma and even Jasmine could see that they were completely surrounded by trees and dense brush. Hating that walking was their only option, Yusuke then loudly complained, "Just where the hell are we? How are we supposed to get to the tournament if we don't know where we're going? This sucks. I don't want to walk in this."

Even though Koenma couldn't help but agree with him, he didn't want to hear Yusuke's complaints, "What else are we suppose to do? We have no other choice. Besides, Jasmine is from here. She's a natural born Alaskan and she'll help us find our way."

Yusuke only responded by raising one of his black eyebrows at him, "You sure about that? I doubt even she knows where we're at."

Jasmine just stared at Yusuke with a blank expression. She was only silent for a minute until she replied, "You know, I can't believe I'm saying this but, I have to agree with Urameshi on this one. The only thing I do know is we are somewhere between Eagle River and Palmer." Shifting her attention to Koenma, she began to feel guilty for what she was about to say, "My prince, I appreciate your confidence and faith in me but, to be honest, I do not know which direction we should take."

Seeing the look of disappointment etched on his handsome face, Jasmine approached him and took his hand into her free hand, brought it up to her lips and kissed it, "I was just being honest. You know I would never lie to you. If all three of us stick together, we'll find our way. What we need to look for is the highway or at least a bicycle path."

Jasmine stopped talking for just a moment to listen if she can hear any cars from the distance. After listening for what seemed like five minutes, it then dawned on her that all three of them were a considerable distance away from the Glenn Highway or any bicycle path that would lead to any of the local state parks.

Yusuke then broke the silence and asked, "So can you hear any cars?"

Jasmine shook her head, "No I cannot. Dammit that would have helped us. I guess we better start walking now."

"Are you crazy?"

Snapping her attention back to Yusuke, Jasmine then said, "Listen Urameshi, you've only got two options, either you stay here and wait for our would be killers to find us and murder us in cold blood or you take my suggestion and start walking and make it on time for the tournament in Palmer. Since it doesn't start for another week, we have plenty of time."

Tightly gripping his lover's hand, Koenma said in agreement, "Yes Yusuke. Besides, her family and the rest of your team might come looking for us. Even if they do, we have to keep moving. I don't want to hear any complaints about how much you can't stand nature. Being stubborn out here will only get you killed."

Realizing he had no choice in the matter, Yusuke sighed and figured it was no use arguing, "Fine. Lead the way Ice Queen. Have you picked a direction yet?"

Jasmine nodded, "Yeah. Follow me."

Taking Koenma by the hand with Yusuke following close by behind them, Jasmine began to walk in a direction she was so sure that will get them to Palmer. The young demon hunter hoped they were going in the right direction. After walking for what seemed like hours, Koenma, Jasmine, and Yusuke reached a dense patch of forest that had a small clearing.

Koenma groaned as he felt his feet ache from all the walking they did that evening. Hearing her lover's pained sounds, Jasmine stopped walking and asked him, "Are you okay?"

Koenma shook his head, "No. My feet really hurt. It seems like we've been walking for hours."

Yusuke too felt his feet aching, "Me too Ice Queen. Can we stop and rest?"

Jasmine thought about it for just a moment and feeling as if her feet were hurting too, she shrugged her small shoulders, "Sure why not. I can use a break too."

Feeling his stomach rumble, Koenma let go of Jasmine's hand and put his hand on his stomach that ached from hunger, "I'm hungry. It feels like forever since we last had something to eat."

Jasmine opened up her duffle bag to see if she can find something for Koenma to eat. After digging around in there for a couple of minutes, she found a bag of chips and a couple of granola bars, "Here, I'm afraid this is all we have."

Yusuke sat down on the ground and felt his stomach rumble too, "I ate all of my snacks. What am I supposed to eat?"

Jasmine looked around and spotted a berry bush, "There are some berries over there. Yes, they are safe to eat. The only berries that aren't edible here are poisonous ones called baneberries. They're usually white or red with a black spot. Whatever you do, don't eat those. The toxins in them will cause cardiac arrest in humans. I don't know how it is for gods or demons but, you being only half demon, there is still a fifty percent chance that it could kill you, so better safe than sorry."

Koenma sat down and opened up his granola bar wrapper, "What type of berries are those?"

Approaching the berry bush to get a better look at them, Jasmine simply responded, "We're in luck, these berries are just blueberries."

She then touched a blueberry and found it to be ripe with a blue-grey color and it came right off its stem, "Oh awesome, these are ripe for the picking. Koenma, can you hand me the empty plastic container I bought at the grocery store last night?"

The prince reached inside Jasmine's duffle bag and handed her a round Tupperware container, "I thought you were going to use it for something else?"

Taking the lid off of it, Jasmine began to pick the ripest and freshest blueberries from the blueberry bush, "I was but, getting us some food for while we're out here is more important."

Koenma then shifted his attention to Yusuke and said in a dreamy voice, "Isn't she brilliant Yusuke?"

The ex-spirit detective shrugged his shoulders, "I guess but, she's nowhere near as brilliant as Keiko."

When the round plastic container was finally full of blueberries, Jasmine rolled her large brown eyes and responded handing him the berry filled container, "Better be nice to me Urameshi. I'm really trying my hardest to get you and Koenma out of this harsh wilderness. I don't want to have to explain to Kazuma, Keiko, and the rest of your team about why I chose to leave you behind to be lost here forever."

"Whatever."

Not saying another word, Yusuke popped a couple of blueberries into his mouth. After swallowing them he then said with amazement, "Wow, these blueberries taste really good."

Taking a sip from her bottle of apple juice, Jasmine said, "Of course, it was grown here in Alaska with lots of water and sunlight."

"Speaking of, my queen what time is it?"

Jasmine checked her watch, "Since I made sure to reset it to Alaska Time when we left Japan, it's about 11:00 PM."

Yusuke's eyes nearly bulged out of his head when she said that, "What? It's still freaking daylight."

Koenma chuckled, "Honestly Yusuke don't you read?"

"No."

The prince finished off his granola bar and washed it down with his water, "Here in Alaska it's mostly daylight during the summer and the exact opposite during the winter. Up on the North Slope, they have 24 hours of sunlight during the summer months and 24 hours of darkness during the winter. Am I correct Jasmine?"

Leaning over and kissing him on the cheek, she nodded, "Yes you are Koenma. I'm so proud you remember."

Kissing her on the cheek in return, he replied, "I made sure to refresh my memory by reading your Alaska book again."

Interrupting their little love fest, Yusuke then asked Jasmine changing the subject, "So Ice Queen, how do you know so much about the wild berries?"

Taking some blueberries from the plastic container, she took a deep breath and replied, "From when I was in girl scouts. Since it's been years since then, I recently brushed up on my knowledge of it. I'm actually surprised by how much I still remember."

Checking her watch again and seeing that the sun was going to set, Jasmine yawned feeling tired from all the walking she did that day. Feeling tired too, Koenma also yawned. The trio finished off their meal in silence and cleaned up their trash mess. Jasmine reached into her duffle bag and took out a blanket with cats on it.

She and Koenma cuddled up close to each other while Yusuke laid his head down on his duffle bag that he was using as a pillow. Looking over at the lovers, he chuckled, "So you're a cat lover too?"

Jasmine nodded, "Yes I am. I have my own cat named Tom. I really hope he's doing well at the kennel. He's very shy around new people."

Yusuke shook his head, "It's no wonder why you and Kuwabara get along. You're both crazy over them."

As Jasmine draped the blanket over herself and Koenma, the prince then reassured her, "Tom is going to be okay. Just think of how happy he'll be when you come back home to him." He then removed his pacifier and kissed the top of his lover's head, "Goodnight Jasmine."

The young psychic looked up at him and smiled, "I know. Goodnight my prince. I love you."

"I love you too."

Koenma slipped his pacifier back between his lips and he and Jasmine both shut their eyes and fell asleep holding each other cuddling into her cat blanket. Yusuke drifted off into his slumber not long after them. The next morning, Koenma woke up to the sun shining through the forest and the sound of birds and other wildlife making their sounds. Glancing down at Jasmine's watch, he can see that it was 7AM.

Both Jasmine and Yusuke were still asleep and feeling his stomach rumbling, Koenma knew he needed to find something to eat. He then thought of the blueberry bush that Jasmine picked from the night before. Carefully moving and not waking up his sleeping human lover, the prince then stood up and grabbed the now empty Tupperware container and approached the blueberry bush.

Glancing at the blueberries that were left, Koenma remembered from reading from Jasmine's Alaska book that if blueberries had a reddish color, they weren't even ripe enough for picking. Staring at the unripe blueberries, Koenma sighed in utter disappointment.

Looking over his shoulder, Jasmine and Yusuke were still sleeping peacefully. Deciding to go search for something to eat, Koenma made a mental note not to travel too far to find some ripe blueberries. After searching the dense forest for what seemed like forever, Koenma spotted another blueberry bush.

As he began to inspect the blueberries which to his relief were a blue-grey color, he heard the sound of snapping twigs. The prince looked over his right shoulder and noticed a black bear eating from another blueberry bush just a short distance from him. Koenma watched the bear with complete awe being that this was the first time he'd ever seen one that wasn't in a book, a taxidermied statue, or in a painting. Sensing Koenma's presence, the black bear stopped eating from the blueberry bush it was snacking on and looked over at the prince.

Koenma and the bear just stared each other down. Looking at the young death god, the bear then began to sense that the being it was staring down wasn't human at all. The black bear eyed Koenma with interest not really knowing how to react to him. Koenma proceeded to pick the ripe blueberries from his blueberry bush and glanced over his shoulder.

The black bear was still staring at him not really knowing if the inhuman being in front of it was a threat or not. It just watched as Koenma filled up the plastic Tupperware container with ripe blueberries. Once the plastic container was filled with blueberries, Koenma turned around and was still greeted by the black bear.

Tightly holding onto the berry filled plastic container and snapping the lid shut, Koenma then spoke, "Don't worry fella, I'm not stealing any of your berries."

The bear just sat there and sniffed the air in front of it. Smelling Koenma's scent, it blinked its big brown eyes and made a small moan. The bear didn't really feel threatened by the prince at all and just sat in its spot on the grass.

Koenma spoke in a gentle voice to the bear again, "I apologize for interrupting your breakfast. I was just here trying to find some for myself, my lover and my ex-spirit detective. In fact, Jasmine would be upset if she saw me interacting with you. She knows how dangerous the animals are here in this beautiful area here in the Living World. You're not going to kill me and eat me are you?"

The bear just responded by twittling its snout and made little clacking sounds with its teeth and made a small whine sound. Politely nodding to the bear, Koenma responded, "Well, I better leave you alone to finish your meal."

He slowly backed away and left the bear alone to eat off its blueberry bush. In return the bear just stared at Koenma wondering why he was leaving and as soon as the prince was out of its line of vision it approached its blueberry bush and began to eat again. Meanwhile back at the makeshift campsite, Yusuke stood next to a bush with a deep blush staining his pale cheeks being embarrassed that he walked in on Jasmine during a private moment.

The young half demon asked, "Are you done yet?"

Jasmine sighed and replied, "Yeah." She walked out from behind the bush and suddenly feeling a rush of pain come over the lower half of her body, she doubled over and moaned in pain.

Not even knowing what was wrong with her, Yusuke looked at her with genuine concern, "Are you okay?"

Still hunched over and feeling like she was going to cry, Jasmine shook her head and sat down on the plush grass. Yusuke just stared at her awkwardly, "What's wrong with you?"

"LEAVE ME ALONE URAMESHI!"

Just then, they both heard the sounds of snapping twigs and rustling grass and leaves and turned in the direction of those sounds. Hoping it wasn't the two assassins that were trying to kill them, Yusuke and Jasmine were relieved to see it was Koenma. The prince held Jasmine's Tupperware container that was full of freshly picked ripe blueberries in one hand and holding two dead King Salmon by their gills in the other.

Brightly smiling behind his pacifier and brimming with pride, Koenma happily said, "I got breakfast. Jasmine, my queen you would be so proud of me, I caught two salmon all by myself and picked some more blueberries."

"Oh...that's wonderful Koenma."

Noting the tone of her voice and her pained expression, Koenma then knew something was wrong. He didn't like to see the woman he loved looking miserable. Before he can ask, Yusuke then said, "I think something is wrong with your girlfriend. She won't tell me what it is. Maybe she might say something to you."

Koenma approached them and handed Yusuke the salmon and berries, "Here Yusuke, hold this for me."

He knelt down in front of his lover and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you hurting my queen? Are you okay?"

Jasmine shook her head and feeling a new wave of pain hit her, she began to whimper and cry again as tears continued to stream down her pale freckled face. Koenma removed his pacifier and kissed her forehead. He said to her in a soft and comforting voice hoping she would say something, "Please tell me what's wrong. You know you can talk to me about everything. Please Jasmine."

Jasmine took a deep breath. Knowing that he was going to keep asking her, she leaned over and whispered in Koenma's ear what it was. The prince's brown eyes widened. He responded by kissing her soft pink lips and pulled away looking into her dark brown eyes. Yusuke then spoke up, "Well, what is it?"

Koenma kissed Jasmine's forehead and replied, "Yusuke be nice to her, she's on her menstrual cycle."

Almost dropping the salmon and the berries, the ex-spirit detective then groaned, "Too much information. I didn't need to know about the ice queen being on her period."

Popping his pacifier back into his mouth, Koenma glared at him, "You don't have be a jerk about it. You know Yusuke, a woman's monthly cycle shouldn't be considered to be shameful. What the hell is the matter with people here in the Living World?"

Yusuke eyed his former boss with a curious expression, "Is it something that's celebrated in Spirit World or something?"

Still keeping his glare on him, Koenma nodded, "Yes. It's considered something as being beautiful and natural. You know, it's also that way in Demon World too right?"

"I didn't know. Hokushin and the monks never said anything to me about it."

Softening his gaze on Yusuke, Koenma shook his head and shifted his attention back to Jasmine who was still softly crying. Gently holding her hand and stroking her long brown curls as he brought her into a comforting hug, he asked, "Did you bring anything for it?"

Jasmine hiccupped and sniffed. She snuggled against his chest and said, "Yeah. I always bring pads and stuff for emergencies. Goddamn my cramps really hurt this month and I forgot to pack my ibuprofen."

Letting go of her hand and wrapping his long arm around her slender body to stroke her soft brown curls to comfort her, a brilliant idea came to mind. Koenma then suggested, "Why don't you use your pain relief technique on yourself? You've used your healing technique on yourself before and that shouldn't be any different."

Mentally slapping herself for forgetting that, Jasmine chuckled at herself, "Oh duh. Thank you Koenma, I love you."

Taking out his pacifier, he kissed the top of her head and replied, "I love you too."

Breaking their short and tender embrace, Jasmine placed her hands over her pelvic area and she concentrated really hard trying to ignore the pain of her cramps as her small dainty hands began to glow with her spirit energy. Feeling a light warming then a cooling sensation as her energy slowly masked the pain of her menstrual cramps, Jasmine sighed with relief.

Yusuke just stood there and watched with interest not really knowing how to react. As Jasmine continued to use her pain relief technique on herself, Koenma shifted his attention back to Yusuke. Taking charge of the situation, he then said, "Yusuke hand me the berries and the fish."

Yusuke did just that and before he could say anything, Koenma then ordered, "Go find us some firewood so we can cook our fish. Please don't protest. Jasmine needs me here with her."

Not wanting to argue, Yusuke sighed, "Alright," and left the makeshift campsite to find some firewood. After about five minutes, Jasmine stopped using her technique. Koenma gave her a warm smile and asked with genuine concern, "Are you okay now?"

Jasmine nodded, "Yes, I'm feeling so much better. Thank you my love."

He winked at her in response, "Anything to see your beautiful smile again."

Jasmine blushed and giggled like a schoolgirl at her loving boyfriend's flirtatious nature. Minutes later, Yusuke returned to the makeshift campsite carrying enough firewood. Soon, the salmon was finally prepared after Koenma filleted them with the hunting knife Jasmine gave him as his Christmas present and cooking them until they were ready to be eaten.

While eating their fish and berries, Yusuke sighed as he picked out another bone, "This would be so much easier without the bones getting in the way."

Taking a bite from her piece of salmon fillet, Jasmine then mentioned, "Well Urameshi, I don't know what to tell you. It's just something everyone has to deal with while eating freshly caught fish."

Koenma finished off his salmon and took the last piece from the current fillet they were eating, "I don't really mind it. These little bones are no big deal."

Deciding to change the subject, Yusuke then asked the prince, "Koenma where did you catch these fish?"

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that too."

Taking a sip from his water bottle, Koenma happily replied, "I found a river that's a short distance away and I noticed that there were salmon spawning down it and I thought we could eat something more than just blueberries for breakfast."

Finishing off her piece of salmon fillet, Jasmine gave her lover a curious look, "Where is this river?"

Picking some bones out of his piece of salmon, Koenma answered, "I'll show you two after we finish our meal. We need all the energy we can get for our walking today, especially you Jasmine. How are you feeling?"

Even though she used her pain relief technique on herself, Jasmine could still feel the nasty effects of her monthly cycle, "I'm not hurting anymore but, I still feel tired and a little lethargic but, I'll manage. It's not like I haven't worked, attended classes, fought demons, and even trained like this before. I'm not going to let my period slow me down."

Noting the look on Koenma's face, Jasmine sweetly giggled, "I'll be fine my prince. You don't have to treat me like I'm a delicate little flower. You've known me long enough to know that."

"I know my queen but, I don't..."

Leaning over and taking his hand, Jasmine gave him a reassuring smile, "I'm alright. Just give me a few days and I'll feel one hundred percent again. Now, let's finish our breakfast and we'll continue our journey to Palmer. Perhaps, we can take the route you went down to the river where you caught our salmon at."

Koenma brightly smiled and brimmed with pride once more, "I'll be more than happy to. I still remember the path I took."

Once that was settled, Koenma, Jasmine, and Yusuke all ate the rest of their breakfast in silence. Once their food was consumed and their campfire was put out, all three made sure they cleaned up their trash mess and grabbed their belongings before leaving their makeshift campsite. Koenma took Jasmine's hand and guided her down the path he took earlier that morning to search for their breakfast, with Yusuke following close by behind them.

Despite Jasmine telling him she was just fine, Koenma was still worried that all of their walking might make her situation worse. Noting the look on his face, Jasmine sighed, "I know what you're thinking Koenma. I'm just fine. If my cramps come back, I can just use my pain relief technique on myself again and all this exercise I'm getting will also help. Please don't worry yourself to death. Like I've mentioned, I'm not a delicate little flower so, don't treat me like I am one."

"Yeah Toddler, stop babying her."

Hearing what Yusuke said, Koenma looked over his shoulder and glared at him. He narrowed his brown eyes and said in a low voice, "I'm just looking out for her. I love her Yusuke and I just want her to be okay. Perhaps you can show Keiko that same love and respect as I do for Jasmine."

Yusuke gave Koenma a weird look, "Listen here Koenma, just because Keiko and I aren't the lovey dovey kind of couple like you and Jasmine, it doesn't mean we don't care about each other. We do and we express our feelings in our own way."

"Yusuke I wasn't saying that you and Keiko aren't in love. I was just saying that maybe you can be a little more affectionate with her while she's not feeling well from her menstrual cycle."

The former spirit detective sighed in annoyance, "We are in love. If I didn't love her, I wouldn't have proposed to her multiple times, I wouldn't be saving myself for her, we wouldn't have ever kissed and she wouldn't have motivated me during my fights as spirit detective or kept my body from becoming ash during that house fire. During her time of the month, she just wants to be left alone and I respect her enough to give her space...and ice cream."

Hearing that Jasmine glanced over her shoulder and asked, "You buy Keiko ice cream during hers? That's so sweet."

Getting sick of arguing with him, Koenma really wanted to change the subject to something else. It seemed like they had walked this trail for an agonizing eternity and just when he was about to wonder if they were going in the right direction to find the river he found earlier that morning, Koenma was pleasantly greeted by a wonderful sight.

Hearing her lover's happy gasp, Jasmine then looked up at him and asked not seeing anything from beyond the thick forest, "What is it my prince?"

Staring ahead, Koenma pointed in the direction ahead of him, "I found the river where I caught our salmon breakfast this morning."

Looking in the direction of where his former boss was pointing Yusuke spotted it too. Jasmine too looked ahead of them and she instantly recognized the river and its bed of finely ground gravel, sand, and silt. Approaching the river's bank, Jasmine looked up at her lover and gave him a proud smile, "Koenma do you realize which river you found?"

Thinking hard about it, Koenma tried to figure it out. He didn't have to wait long until Jasmine happily said, "You found the Knik River. This is great news."

Yusuke raised one of his black eyebrows and asked, "How is this great news?"

Still giddy, Jasmine added, "I'm glad you asked that Urameshi. This is great news because, once we cross this river, we'll be able to get to Palmer and there is a railroad bridge that goes across this. If we can spot the bridge, then we'll be able to find the Glenn Highway and if we find that, we'll be able to get to Palmer for the tournament."

Shifting her attention to her lover, Jasmine sweetly smiled, "I'm so proud of you Koenma. I'm surprised you didn't remember which river this was."

Koenma brought his hand up to the back of his head and awkwardly laughed like a complete dork, "I guess I was just too hungry to recognize where I was. If I had some food in my stomach, I would have remembered this river we've crossed a few times to get back and forth from Anchorage to Valdez."

"There's no use in crying over spilled milk my love." Jasmine said as she stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek.

Staring at the Knik River, Yusuke sighed. He tightly gripped onto the handle of his duffle bag and asked, "How are we supposed to cross it? I don't see a railroad bridge anywhere."

Koenma and Jasmine both scanned the river for the Glenn Highway Railroad Bridge with very little luck. Jasmine looked down at the ground and began to shuffle some dirt with her purple sneaker, "I guess we'll have to find an alternative."

"How?"

At Yusuke's question, Jasmine looked down the river hoping to find something that will help them across. After about a minute, she spotted some uprooted trees floating in the water or stuck on the river bed. Jasmine cleared her throat and responded, "Look over there, we're in luck. We can just carefully use those uprooted trees to cross."

Koenma looked over in the direction of where his lover was pointing, "Great idea my queen."

Gently taking her hand, Koenma then proceeded to guide Jasmine in the direction of the uprooted trees. Without argument and wanting very much to get out of their situation and get to the Alaska State Fair for his upcoming rematch with Jasmine in the tournament, Yusuke followed close behind them. Finally reaching their destination, Jasmine looked at the Knik River so she can watch its current.

Finding it to be not too treacherous, Jasmine sighed with relief. Shifting her attention to Koenma and Yusuke, she then suggested, "Okay, we should try to cross it now. Since I'm the shortest and probably the lightest, I should go first."

Feeling nervous, Jasmine tightly gripped Koenma's hand and breathed in deeply. Noticing her behavior, the prince asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Jasmine nodded, "Y...yeah. I...I'm just nervous that's all."

"Why are you my queen?"

She looked down at her feet for a minute and back up at Koenma, "I don't know how to swim. What if I fall in? Shit, if that happens, then it'll be all over for me."

Letting go of her hand and wrapping his long arms around her bringing her in for a comforting hug, Koenma replied hoping to lift her spirits, "If that happens, Yusuke and I will save you. I know how to swim and Yusuke does too. But, we'll make sure that doesn't happen. Tell you what, how about I walk behind you. I know how when it comes to balancing on things, you're not the most graceful. I promise I won't let you fall Jasmine. You have my word."

Looking up at her lover's handsome face, Jasmine smiled and said with gratitude, "Oh thank you my prince. I love you."

"I love you too."

Koenma removed his pacifier and gave her a sweet kiss on her small pink lips and pulled away before putting it back in. Helping Jasmine up onto the uprooted tree, he then said in a comforting voice to her, "Just relax and look straight ahead. Yusuke and I will climb up after you."

Taking a deep breath, Jasmine did what Koenma suggested and looked straight ahead. She stuck out her arms at her sides and slowly walked onto the tree's trunk. She could feel her feet slip a little bit due to the tree bark being a little wet from the river's water but, she caught herself in time.

Seeing that, the prince then climbed up and proceeded to walk across too carefully watching Jasmine to make sure she wouldn't lose her balance and fall into the river. Yusuke just watched for a minute until he too climbed up onto the uprooted tree and followed Koenma and Jasmine across it. Looking ahead, Jasmine could see that there was a small gap between the current tree she was walking on and another one that could reach the other side of the river.

She stopped walking when she approached it. Yusuke and Koenma stopped too and the ex-spirit detective then asked, "Why did we stop?"

Jasmine then said, "Uh guys, look, there's a gap between this one and another tree. Great, I didn't expect this at all. Well then again, this is Alaska. Unexpected things happen here."

Trying to maintain his balance, Yusuke then put in his two cents, "Just jump."

"What, are you fucking crazy?"

"Look Ice Queen, you don't have a choice, either you jump and we get across or we stay here and fall into the river. Do you want that to happen? Do you want your family to mourn the death of their daughter, sister, niece, cousin, or whatever? I doubt Koenma even has enough power stored up in his pacifier to revive you either."

Koenma looked over his shoulder at him and barked, "Goddammit Yusuke, why do you have to scare Jasmine like that?"

"No Koenma, he's right. I have to jump. Oh god, I have to. Holy shit, I'm still feeling the effects of my monthly cycle and I'm just so nervous." She paused and tried to calm herself down, "I can do this. I can do this. We got to get to the tournament. Our families and friends must be freaking out about where we are right now. Okay, I can do this."

She shut her large brown eyes for a second to calm herself down. Once she felt she was ready, Jasmine then jumped the gap to the other uprooted tree. She grabbed a hold of a thick branch and wound up soaking her socks, the lower legs of her blue jeans, and her purple sneakers in the process. Using all of her upper body strength, she pulled herself up onto the uprooted tree.

Jasmine sat on her knees panting with her heart racing. Koenma sighed with relief and Yusuke just stood there surprised that Jasmine actually made it. Psyching himself up for it, Koenma then shouted, "I'm coming over!"

Jasmine caught her breath and made sure to give him some space to get on. Just before he jumped, Koenma briefly switched to his toddler form and turned around, "Yusuke here, hold this."

He handed him his duffle bag and took a few steps back before getting a running start. The now pint sized prince jumped the gap and landed on the other uprooted tree on his small feet surprisingly keeping his balance. Koenma then switch back to his tall and handsome adult form.

Before deciding to jump himself, Yusuke then shouted at his former boss, "Hey Pacifier Breath, catch!"

Koenma then shifted his attention back to him before Yusuke tossed Koenma his duffle bag. The prince leaned over and caught it with one hand. He and Jasmine moved over on the uprooted tree so he can jump too. Not saying a word, Yusuke then took a couple of steps back before jumping across the gap.

Like Jasmine, he caught himself on time before he could fall into the river and grabbed onto the same thick tree branch like she did soaking his sneakers, the lower legs of his jeans and his socks. Yusuke used his upper body strength to pull himself up onto the trunk of the uprooted tree.

Groaning in annoyance at his wet shoes, he then grumbled, "I'm never doing that again."

Jasmine nodded in agreement, "Neither am I. Koenma you got really lucky."

"Yeah, your toddler form really helped you. You're the only one of us that didn't soak their shoes and socks."

Sucking on his pacifier for a minute, Koenma then replied, "I was just as nervous as you both. Like you said Jasmine, I just got lucky."

The trio then laughed and once regaining their composure, they proceeded to cross the uprooted tree to the other side of the Knik River. Finally reaching the other side, Koenma, Jasmine, and Yusuke were so grateful to be back on dry land. Jasmine looked around in search of the railroad bridge, hoping to find any signs of the Glenn Highway.

To her disappointment, she didn't. Noting the sad look on her face, Koenma gave her another hug to comfort her, "Don't worry, we'll find it. Please don't give up hope."

Snuggling closer to him, Jasmine sighed, "Thank you. I'm trying to stay positive but, my hormones are making my anxiety worse. I'll be okay in a few days. You needn't worry about me."

"Uh, hey love birds, I don't mean to interrupt but, those two creepy people that ran us off the road, looks like they found us."

At Yusuke's words, Koenma and Jasmine shifted their attention to where he was looking at and spotted Aphrodite and Makoto's doppelganger just down the riverbank. Koenma and Jasmine broke their short embrace and Jasmine grabbed Koenma's hand pulling him into the thick forest with Yusuke following close behind them.

Running through the forest hoping to lose them, Koenma then asked, "Do you think they saw us?"

Making sure to keep up with them, Yusuke replied, "I don't know. I think there is a good chance they did."

Adding in her two cents, Jasmine said, "I have a feeling that they're going to split up to find us so; I think we should do the same."

They stopped running and Koenma gave her a look of confusion, "Why would you want to do that? Wouldn't that make it easier for them to find us?"

Jasmine nodded, "Yeah but, if we split up and try to go after them first and take them by surprise, they won't know what hit them. Yusuke and I are very capable fighters so we shouldn't have too much difficulty but, if we do, I know we'll eventually pull it together and kick their asses. Also, Koenma I want you to find somewhere to hide until our fights are over. But, just in case, do you still have your hunting knife if you have to defend yourself in any way?"

The prince nodded, "Yes my queen. But Jasmine, I don't want to leave you. You're still..."

Letting go of Koenma's hand, Jasmine took his head into her hands and stood on her tip toes. She gently touched her forehead to his and replied, "I'll be just fine. Please don't worry about me. Your safety comes first. Koenma, I know you mean well but, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

Knowing that arguing with her will make things worse, Koenma knew he needed to back off no matter how reluctant he was and take her suggestion of finding a hiding place until she and Yusuke were finished with their fight. He sighed and nodded his head up and down in compliance. Jasmine smiled and stood on her tip toes before kissing his forehead directly over his "Jr" mark that's covered by his purple headband.

"I love you Koenma. Please be careful."

"I love you too Jasmine. I will and you and Yusuke do the same."

Jasmine then shifted her attention over to Yusuke and before she could say anything he got the idea and replied, "I'm up for this plan. Let's find these assholes and teach them not to fuck with us."

Koenma and Jasmine parted from their semi-embrace. Jasmine stood back on the bottoms of her feet and withdrew her black and red martial arts fans from underneath her pink denim jacket. Not saying another word, the trio then parted ways in search of their pursuers.

Koenma walked the forest looking for a good place for him to hide. He would have much rather encountered more of the local wildlife or face his father's wrath or even stamp, sign, and process a huge stack of paperwork over this. Just then he heard the sound of snapping twigs and rustling leaves. The prince then backed up against a spruce tree and carefully peeked around the corner to see who or what made those sounds.

Much to his dismay, he saw Aphrodite with her back turned to him looking around the forest. He was correct to assume that she was searching for Yusuke, Jasmine, and himself. Hiding back behind the tree, Koenma reached for his hunting knife on his belt knowing that he was going to have to use it. Wrapping his long fingers around the hilt, he unsheaved the knife. Holding it at his side, he pressed his back against the trunk of the tree breathing heavily hoping Aphrodite wouldn't find him.

Just to be safe, he looked around the other side and saw that she was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief thinking that she went on a path in search of Jasmine and Yusuke. His hopes were soon dashed when he heard a high pitched laugh from behind him.

"Looking for someone Koenma?"

He bit down on his pacifier and tightly gripped his hunting knife. Koenma took a deep breath and turned around greeted by his former classmate, "H...how did you find me?"

Aphrodite laughed again, "I sensed your aura and your spirit energy. You really should learn to mask it. It just makes you a walking target for anyone who wants to kill you or worse."

Koenma slowly tried to back away from her. He brought up his hunting knife and tried to make himself seem threatening, "Stay away from me. I'm warning you Aphrodite, I won't hesitate to plunge the blade of this knife into your heart."

Slowly walking towards him, Aphrodite cruelly smiled, "Oh look who's trying to look tough when he's really not. Oh Koenma, you haven't changed in the past 200 years. You may look like a handsome and strapping young man but, deep down you're still the same little freak geek that got his ass kicked whenever he tried to fight anyone."

Still trying to keep his stance, Koenma then snapped, "I still haven't forgotten what you did to me back then or at least what you tried to do to me. Thank god Ogre was there to put a stop to it."

"Speaking of, how is that big blue bastard? Is he still babying you? Does he still want to kill me? Haha...not like he would ever be successful, Jorge is weak and he always will be but, he will pay for leaving that scar and damaging my beautiful skin."

Still trying to back away from her, Koenma then was stopped by a berry bush. His anxiety and fear then shot through the roof and he debated whether or not to switch back to his toddler form. He looked Aphrodite right in the eye and could see the empty coldness in her icy blue eyes.

She formed a cruel and sadistic smile on her full red lips as she began to taunt, "So tell me Koenma, are you debating to switch back to your child form? Are you? Why do you still have it? Everyone else in our graduating class has already crossed over to make their adult bodies permanent, so why do you still keep yours?"

Biting down on his pacifier, Koenma gritted his teeth, tightly gripping his hunting knife and answered, "You know the answer to that Aphrodite."

"No I do not. I have another question. Why did you give your purity up to a human whore? What's wrong Koenma, are women of our kind not good enough for you? I used to think that you were just gay but, you proved me wrong. Just wait until the king gets a load of how his only son decided to give it up and become a slut to a human tramp."

"Fuck you! You're the slut Aphrodite. Since you obtained your adult form, you've spread your legs for any guy that crosses your path!"

Before Koenma could react, Aphrodite raised her hand and gave him a hard smack to his face, knocking him to the ground, "How dare you, you pacifier sucking whore!"

Thinking fast, Koenma reverted to his toddler form and grabbed his hunting knife that fell out of his hand. He glared at her and spat back, "I love Jasmine and I saved myself for her!"

He then raised his hunting knife and stabbed the calf of Aphrodite's left leg. Aphrodite let out a loud scream in pain, "YOU LITTLE BASTARD!"

Koenma yanked the blade out of her flesh and ran as fast as his short legs could carry him. Meanwhile with Jasmine, the young demon hunter searched the forest carefully for Aphrodite and Makoto's double. Her large dark brown eyes carefully scanned the trees and the thick brush. She then sensed demon energy and hoped that it was Yusuke. She looked around some more but, then she spotted an individual that turned out not to be Yusuke.

Instead, it was the doppelganger of her now dead ex-boyfriend. Tightly gripping her black and red fans preparing herself for a fight, Jasmine then spoke up, "Who the hell are you? You're not Makoto. He's dead. I went to his funeral and I was there when Koenma processed his paperwork. Now answer me, who are you?"

The man then spoke to her, "How do you know I'm not his twin brother?"

Jasmine rolled her eyes, "Makoto didn't have a twin. He had four little sisters that he hated with a passion. I can also sense your demon energy so; I know damn well that you're some sort of a demon in disguise. Now answer my fucking question before I lose my patience, who are you?"

The demon laughed, "Oh, that's what gave me away? I thought I masked my energy but then again, you're not as weak as Yusuke Urameshi was when I fought him a few years ago. You remind me of his pathetic friend that I crushed in the semifinals of the Genkai Tournament. Oh yes, you're one of those born with a heightened spiritual awareness. Too bad I didn't kill that Kuwabara kid but, he wasn't worth my time anyway and not even worth killing. Watching him suffer from the injuries I gave him was enough."

Jasmine narrowed her dark brown eyes at him, "Don't you call Kazuma weak. He's stronger than I am. For someone his age, he has accomplished quite a feat of becoming one of the strongest humans alive or at least in Japan and all of Asia. He's right up there with my grandparents who are both considered to be S Class humans."

The demon then began to size her up, "You have quite the mouth for such a tiny little lady. You don't look and sound Japanese. What race of human are you? You look like some of the people who live here but, your power level, damn, you don't seem to give yourself any credit. You have more power than you realize. If you say the Kuwabara boy is now an S Class human like you say he is, you're coming up very close with bordering on A Class, still a B Class but still."

Jasmine's body began to glow with her spirit energy and she coated her fans with it, "This is my homeland. If you must know, I'm what the humans consider to be white, not that my race matters. I'm just a human psychic that has killed and hunted demons since she was a little five year old girl. I don't think you know who you're messing with."

The demon then flared up with his demon energy, "You're one of those McAlpin fools. Oh I remember how I fought and killed one of you back in the 1920s. I remember how much fun it was to steal his ability. What was it again? Oh yeah..."

The demon took out a martial arts weapon that Jasmine recognized as a sickle. Watching the demon coat the sickle with his demon energy, she then said, "My cousin Wendy inherited that weapon from our dead great-great uncle that was killed by a demon who imitated his ability and killed him with it. You're that demon!"

The demon cruelly smiled, "It's good that you heard of me but, allow me to tell my real name and let you see my true form. Just for you. I usually kill my victims after they see what I look like but, I did promise Aphrodite that you're all hers to play with and Urameshi and that old bat got to live too so, what the hell."

Jasmine then felt the ground underneath her shake. She knew damn well it wasn't an earthquake but it was the demon that was causing it. She could only watch as the demon then transformed from his human disguise of Makoto into his true form. Once his transformation was complete, he then stood before her with long red hair, purple tattoo markings that covered his chest, arms and his face and his eyes were now an amber color.

The demon then introduced himself speaking in his rough sounding voice, "My name is Rando, I am pleased to meet you Alaskan demon hunter girl."

Jasmine then responded, as she stood in a fighting stance, "Where are my manners? Oh boy, if my parents were here, they would be on my ass faster than stink on poop. Pleased to meet you Rando, my name is Jasmine Elizabeth Black. Black is my father's last name and that's the only thing I really did inherit from his family. Everything else is all McAlpin."

Rando smiled at her and stood in a fighting stance, "The pleasure is all mine. Are you ready?"

Jasmine opened up her energy coated fans, "Yes, let's do this."

They then sprinted towards each other. Rando then tried to use the energy coated sickle and tried to cut Jasmine with it. The young demon hunter then did a backwards summersault and dodged his attacks. She then retaliated sprinting after him making slashing motions with her energy coated fans.

She landed a hit on Rando slashing his face and causing him to bleed from that wound. Rando gritted his teeth, "Damn, I underestimated that little bitch. She's a lot stronger than I thought, then again, so am I."

The two then both made cutting and slashing motions at each other with their energy coated weapons. Jasmine and Rando both blocked each other's attacks and blasted each other back with their energies. They both breathed hard and Rando smiled at her, "You're good. I underestimated you. You're deadly and cute too."

"You flatter me." Jasmine responded back in a sarcastic tone.

"Oooooooh...hostile, no wonder the pacifier sucking brat is fucking you. To be honest, I don't really want to fight you. It's Urameshi I'm after." Rando answered truthfully.

Jasmine stood there breathing heavily and before she could respond, the voice of Yusuke Urameshi then spoke, "If you wanted to fight me, then you're in luck."

Jasmine and Rando then shifted their attention in the direction of where his voice came from and they then saw Yusuke walking into the clearing. The former spirit detective then walked up to Jasmine and said, "Go find Koenma and let me take care of this asshole."

"What about you?"

"I'll be just fine. I've fought this bastard during one of my first spirit detective missions. Go to Koenma. He needs you. Go find him before that bitch does."

Jasmine gave Yusuke a kind smile and nodded, "Thank you. Come find us after you take Rando down."

Yusuke returned the kind smile, "I will and you're welcome."

Folding her fans, Jasmine stopped glowing with her spirit energy and left Yusuke to fight Rando, thinking to herself, "Please Koenma, please be okay. I hope she didn't find you."

Watching Jasmine leave, Rando was about to run after her to continue their fight, but Yusuke stopped him in his tracks, "Hey asshole, forget about her. Your fight is with me."

Rando shifted his attention to Yusuke and tightly gripped his energy coated sickle, "Long time no see, Urameshi. Wow, you've changed since our last fight. Who'd have thought that a spirit detective could turn out to really be a demon? A demon who's a descendant of the late great King Raizen for that matter, this is going to be fun. So much more fun than last time."

Yusuke stood in a fighting stance and flared up with his energy, "I'm glad I can make your dream come true Rando. I can say the same thing about you. You've gotten stronger."

Rando too stood in a fighting stance and flared up with his demon energy, "Thanks for the complement. Are you ready Urameshi?!"

"Bring it on bitch!"

Both demon men sprinted towards each other and started their fight with Yusuke throwing the first punch. Meanwhile with Koenma, the currently toddler looking prince crawled underneath a small gap in a berry bush to hide from Aphrodite who was still chasing after him still gripping onto the handle of his blood covered hunting knife. The young love goddess limped from the pain of her wound that was inflicted on her by Koenma.

"Where the hell are you? Come out Koenma! Come out now!"

Koenma then tried to crawl away. He desperately wanted to find Jasmine and Yusuke to help him. Hearing some leaves rustling, Koenma was unpleasantly greeted by Aphrodite who then declared, "Found you!"

Koenma tried to crawl away but, she grabbed him by his ankle and dragged him out from his hiding place. The currently pint sized prince tried to use his hunting knife on her again but, Aphrodite dodged his assaults and slapped it out of his small hand. She picked up the knife and examined it as she pinned Koenma's small body to the ground, "What a beautiful little instrument you got here."

She looked at the handle and saw the designs and the crest that had a coat of arms with a capital "M" in the middle with a lion on each side that was engraved in it, "Such craftsmanship. Is this your girlfriend's family crest?"

Trying desperately to push her off of him, Koenma then answered, "Y...yes, it's the McAlpin Family Crest..."

Feeling him trying to push her off of him, Aphrodite then forced Koenma back onto the ground, "Wow, even in that degrading form, you're quite the firecracker." She then leaned down and sadistically smirked, "Oh Koenma, you're going to be wishing for death with what I'm going to do to you."

Still struggling with his efforts proving to be in vain, he asked, "What are you going to do to me? Oh god, please don't do what I think you're going to do."

Aphrodite narrowed her icy blue eyes, "Fuck no. Since you're choosing to be like that, I'm just going to use your own knife to torture you. In fact, since you're in your child form, it'll make it a lot easier for me to cut open your little neck and rip out your vocal cords. The little royal songbird of Spirit World will sing no more. No more siren songs that attract everyone to you including women and animals and nobody will be able to hear your screams for help. Don't worry Koenma, you'll join the mother you murdered soon. Queen Mommy will be so happy to see to the son who killed her."

Koenma really tried to push her off of him not wanting to suffer such a horrible fate, "GET OFF OF ME! GET OFF! JASMINE! YUSUKE! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"

Feeling as if Koenma was beginning to make this difficult for her, she began to taunt, "What's to say I won't go after your little human whore next? Once she sees that her celestial lover is dead, she'll go mad just like your ex-spirit detective Shinobu Sensui did."

Koenma then landed a hard kick to her stomach and Aphrodite then retaliated by slashing his cute chubby face making him scream in agony, "That really hurt! Why don't you start singing to get your little animal friends to save you? No? FINE! SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR VOICE!"

Just as Aphrodite was about to cut open Koenma's neck, someone landed a hard roundhouse kick to the side of her head forcing her off of Koenma and making her drop his hunting knife. Koenma just lay on the ground and started to cry as blood from his wound and tears ran down his chubby toddler like face.

Feeling disoriented, Aphrodite then heard a high pitched pretty sounding female voice with an Alaskan accent speak to her, "Stay away from the love of my life you bitch!"

Jasmine then heard Koenma's cries and shifted her attention to him and knelt down to his level. Still holding her black and red fans, she sat him up, brought his small body into her arms and said in an effort to comfort him, "It's okay. Koenma I'm here, I promise I won't let her hurt you. I promise."

Koenma hugged her back and replied resting his head on her breasts, listening to her heartbeat, "O...oh J...Jasmine thank god. A...Aphrodite was going to...take her down my queen. P...please..."

Holding him close to her body, Jasmine replied, "Don't worry, she'll get the beating of her life."

Aphrodite then stood up and remarked, "You better get started on that soon you human slut. I don't like to wait for my opponents to attack."

Still holding Koenma in her arms, Jasmine snapped, "That's because you don't have any honor at all. You just like to attack people without giving them a chance and those who aren't fighters. Just what the fuck is your problem?"

Breaking hers and Koenma's embrace, Jasmine stood up and tightly gripped her fans as she stood in a fighting stance and flared up with her spirit energy, coating her fans with it. Aphrodite did the same as she then mocked, "So what if I don't. So tell me, Jasmine, why don't you date human men? Why do you have to steal and violate ours?"

Jasmine scrunched her nose in disgust at her, "I didn't violate Koenma. He wanted to lose his virginity to me. It's a little something that you may have heard of called "consent". Also, I don't care who I date. If they like me and I like them, it shouldn't have to matter. Koenma loves me and I love him. That's all there is to it."

"That's not how I'm going to tell it. Humans like you disgust me. Shouldn't you be mourning the death of your ex-lover, what was his name, Makoto?"

Jasmine felt like she was going to be sick, "Nobody will fucking believe you. The ogres and the grim reaper girls like Botan and Shunjun the SDF captain all know the truth and

ugh, gross, hell no, Mako got what he deserved. He was a lying, cheating, philandering, piece of crap that was also a serial rapist and a suspected serial killer. I'm glad he's

dead."

Aphrodite just glared at her and not saying another word, she summoned her heart shaped throwing stars and tossed them at Jasmine. Jasmine dodged in the nick of time and sprinted over to the love goddess making slashing movements with her energy coated fans. Watching the fight between the two women unfold in front of him, Koenma then stopped crying and took a deep breath before switching back to his tall and handsome adult form. He picked up his hunting knife and tightly wrapped his long fingers around the handle.

He didn't know what to do as the fight between Jasmine and Aphrodite continued. Jasmine suddenly felt the fatigue from her monthly cycle wash over her again and Aphrodite saw it as an opportunity to knock her off her feet by kicking Jasmine's legs out from underneath her.

Jasmine landed on the cool ground with a thud dropping her fans. Picking up her weapons, Aphrodite just laughed watching Jasmine as she summoned a few more heart shaped throwing stars, "Humans are so frail. Don't worry Jasmine; I'm not going to kill you. Oh no, I'll give you a fate that's worse than death. I'm just going play with you until you become just as broken as Shinobu Sensui. I want to give your slutty boyfriend the thing that he has been dreading, watching you go mad all because of him."

Jasmine then stood up as her legs wobbled a bit, "Fat chance you little bitch. My mind isn't as rigid as his was. I'm not Sensui."

"Bullshit, I made sure to do my research on you. You've had some emotional setbacks from childhood until now. You saw something your little eight year old mind shouldn't have seen at that age. Just like Sensui, it really fucked with your head..."

Having enough of hearing Aphrodite talk, Jasmine interrupted her shouting, "Shut up! Shut your goddamn mouth. I'm over it. My family and therapy helped me through it. It has nothing to do with Koenma."

The young Alaskan demon hunter, tightly gripped her fans in her hands and her body began to shake, "Mine and Koenma's love is strong. Not you or anyone else will ever break our bond. He's the only man I have ever and will ever truly love. He, my family, and my friends are my reasons to fight. You don't even fucking understand that and you never will because nobody has ever loved a gross skank like you!"

At Jasmine's words, Aphrodite then felt deep rage build up inside her, "You little bitch!"

She then threw her heart shaped throwing stars at her. Instead of hitting Jasmine, they were deflected by an energy shield. Koenma stood in front of his lover holding out his long arms erecting his energy barrier around himself and Jasmine. The prince then snapped, "Try anything else and I will kill you Aphrodite. I've never intentionally killed anyone that wasn't in self defense before in my life but, I don't mind making an exception for you."

Hearing Koenma say that, Jasmine then said, "Don't my prince she's not worth it."

Aphrodite continued to throw her heart shaped throwing stars at Koenma's barrier hoping to break through it and the prince tried his hardest to keep it up, "She's not even playing fair and I know Aphrodite, she'll never give up until she either breaks or kills her victims. She's been that way since Spirit World Kindergarten and she'll never change. The only way to deal with people like her is to get rid of her."

Still feeling tired, Jasmine replied, "Koenma, please don't. You're not a killer and never will be." When she said that, Jasmine then thought back to what she witnessed during the battle at the Valdez Civic Center from the previous summer. She remembered what Koenma did to a few demons in order to save her and how he blasted back the mysterious masked man with a ball of his spirit energy.

He didn't remember ever doing it and Jasmine didn't want to freak him out by saying something about it and had been tight lipped about the subject since. She then spoke again, "Please Koenma, just let her go. I'll fight her again another day if Yusuke gets here and knocks her on her ass or something."

Just when Jasmine said that, Rando ran into the clearing with a demon Yusuke in his Mazoku form running in hot pursuit after him, "Get back you son of a bitch. We're not done yet!"

Rando ran up next to Aphrodite and retorted, "I think we are for now Urameshi. Goddamn you're strong."

Aphrodite stopped throwing her heart shaped throwing stars and shifted her attention to her partner, "What are you on about?"

Rando sighed and then suggested, "Let's get out of here Aphrodite. We need to train before we can pursue Urameshi and the McAlpin girl again. When we are strong enough, we'll squash them."

Disappointed that she didn't get to finish her fight or play with Jasmine some more or cause Koenma any more pain, she threw her hands up and decided not to argue, "Fine."

She shifted her attention to the trio as Koenma put down his barrier. She then said her final threat, "We will be back and just you three wait. All three of you will meet your sticky ends. Mark my words."

Rando with Aphrodite reluctantly following him then left the forest with Jasmine, Koenma and Yusuke looking on. Yusuke sighed and then loudly complained, "Fucking coward. It's not fair, we had a pretty good fight going and just as when I was about to take his ass down again, he fucking runs."

Koenma placed a hand on Yusuke's now bare shoulder, "Just think of it this way, the next time you encounter Rando, you'll be ready for him."

Yusuke shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah I guess."

Jasmine slipped her fans back into her pink denim jacket and said, "I'll make sure to keep up with my training with Genkai and my mom so I'll be ready to give Aphrodite the beating she deserves."

Just then, she glanced up at Koenma's face to see where Aphrodite slashed him, "That bitch, here my love, let me heal you."

She then raised her hands up to his face and her hands began to glow with her spirit energy once again. Koenma let out a small groan feeling the small burning sensation as his skin healed while Jasmine used her healing technique on him. Five minutes later, Koenma's face was restored to its normal state and Jasmine's hands stopped glowing.

Taking her hands into his own, Koenma gazed into her dark brown eyes and said with gratitude and pure love, "Thank you my queen and thank you for saving me. If you haven't showed up when you did, I wouldn't be here talking to you."

Lovingly gazing into his brown eyes, Jasmine replied, "I would never let anyone harm you my love. I will do anything to make sure we have a future together."

She then stood on her tip toes and removed Koenma's pacifier before giving him a quick kiss. Jasmine pulled away seconds later and gave the Mafukan back to him. Koenma slipped it between his lips and the lovers shifted their attention back to Yusuke.

The prince then mentioned asking, "How are you going to hide your hair and markings? Are you going to compete in the tournament like that?"

Yusuke shrugged his shoulders, "Hell, I don't know. Just might for the hell of it. It'll give the locals something to see I guess and Keiko really loves this look. She says I'm incredibly hot this way."

Jasmine sweetly giggled, "You'll be quite the spectacle all right. There hasn't been a Mazoku in the entire history of the state of Alaska ever."

Yusuke just chuckled in response and decided to change the subject, "Let's grab our shit and look for the whatever the named highway again."

Letting go of Koenma's hands, Jasmine replied, "Actually it's called the Glenn Highway."

"I thought it was called the Seward Highway."

Jasmine shook her head, "We transitioned to the Glenn Highway several miles ago. It's the same thing when you travel to Valdez from Glennallen but, you transition to the Richardson Highway instead."

As the trio continued their conversation, they searched the forest for their belongings such as their duffle bags, Jasmine's purse, and in Yusuke's case, his brown jacket. After finding them, they continued on the path Jasmine was leading Koenma and Yusuke on until she heard the sound of moving cars.

She smiled and said with excitement, "Hey guys, we found it. We finally found the Glenn Highway."

Tugging Koenma's hand she and her lover began to run with Yusuke following close by behind them. The former spirit detective then asked, "Really? Do you know which direction we will go in when we get there?"

Before Jasmine could answer, they ran out of the forest and were greeted by the busy Alaskan highway. The young demon hunter looked at both directions and answered, "Okay, I now know where we are. Let's go this way. We are almost to Palmer. Follow me."

Sighing with relief, Koenma then added, "Finally. The first thing I'm going to do is take a shower. It's not like the outdoors here stink or anything but, I just feel so dirty. Plus I need to get the stench of Aphrodite's perfume off of me."

Resting her head on her lover's shoulder Jasmine asked, "May we cuddle after my shower?"

Koenma nodded, "Yes anything you want my queen. Thank you for saving me again."

"It was no problem. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes, I'll be alright." Koenma reassured her.

Watching the two lovebirds, Yusuke shook his head and interjected, "After I take my shower, I think the first thing I'm going to do is take a nap."

They continued walking on the edge of the highway slowly getting closer to their destination. Holding Jasmine's hand, Koenma felt so grateful for someone like her who was there to protect him from any harm that came his way and he felt like he couldn't possibly love her any more than he did right then and there. He then looked over at Yusuke and even though he didn't want to admit it, he was grateful for Yusuke's help too. After all, before Jasmine came into his life, Yusuke was once his spirit detective and even if they faced some bad times then, there was still some good ones they had together. Even if Yusuke didn't quite consider him as a friend, Koenma secretly hoped they would become friends someday.


End file.
